K2K: A JOURNEY FROM SKY TO OCEAN by Captain Suraj Singh Thakur of Indian Army – Part 4

Tso Morari – Mahe – Chushul – Tangtse: After Tso Morari Lake road track till Mahe, it is gonna be a bumpy ride. There is no way around and so, you have to go through it. Once you reach Chushul then till Tangtse, it’s gonna be good patches and bad patches. So, till then you gonna have a little comfy ride. Again, riders must keep this thing in mind that always carry extra fuel. It might come handy to you at any point of time because in a place like Leh Ladhak, believe me, you don’t wanna venture around for fuel. I really had a terrible experience. Place to stay at Tangtse is again Chang La Queen Resort which is one of the best in Tangtse. Room rent is like you are really like paying nothing; just Rs. 3000/- for a night. For refuelling, local venders are available. Even vehicle mechanics are available at Tangtse who can check up your vehicle in case you are having any problem in your vehicle. Places to Visit at Tangtse: Yes, you can go for a couple of monasteries here like Sachkul monastery, local gompa etc.

(a) Distance: Approximately 216 km

(b) Place to Stay: Chang La Queen Resort (Tangtse)

Tangtse – Agham – Syok – Khalsa – Diskit – Nubra Valley – Hunder: After resting my soul for a couple of days at Tangtse, I started my journey again and my next stop was at Nubra valley. Before I reach my final destination Hunder, I rode all along the Syok river, Agham, then Diskit. At this place, you can stay for a while and visit Diskit monastery which is one of the best in Leh Ladhak. Subsequently, you will be heading towards Nubra. Nubra is famous for its mesmerising landscape, white desert and none other than double hump camels. Also once you are done with your double hump camel ride, you will be heading towards Hunder and you will come across one of the beautiful landscape en route.

(a) Diskit: After the turn off to Diskit, the valley’s largest village, the road stretches about 3 km alongside the rocky flooded plain before climbing and clinging to the hillside for another 13 km. One of the best tourist attraction Diskit Gompa with about 100 monks is the oldest (more than 500 years old) and biggest of its kind in the Nubra valley. If you want to see the heads of the statues uncovered, you’ll have to visit during the Dosmoche Festival. The gompa roof offers glorious views of the valley. Between Diskit and Hunder is an area of white sand dunes which is not unlike the Sahara if you can ignore the snow-capped mountains in the background.

(b) Nubra Valley: It is also known as the valley of flowers. Nubra means Green and has always been green cultivated, fertile and famous for its beautiful lush green landscape. Riders are requested to carry permit for the same.

(c) Hunder: Hunder is an attractive village and is nicer than Diskit but, being smaller, has slightly fewer facilities. Riders must go for wild camel safari and white sand dunes at places.

(i) Distance: Approximately 190 Km.

(ii) Place to Stay: Nubra Sarai Camps (Hunder).

Conclusion : Leh Ladhak has always been my dream come true ride. I had a dream that one day, I would ride all along these beautiful ice clad mountains with my Harley and now, I made it. I remember that I was sitting on the bank of Pangong Tso lake and cherishing some of my ride moments with other riders that “How we have come up so far”. I strongly believe that its the bond between you, your machine and the ride that matters. During my ride, sometimes it used to get really frustrating that at places, I used to ride 600 km a day and now I was barely able to make it 150 km in a day. But slowly and stately, I understood that those were highways and these are mountains, and you must pay great respect to these mountains. Wherever I went, I at least stayed there for 15 to 20 days and enjoyed the serenity of that place as I was away from all possible human hustle. It was just the open road, me, my bike and the beautiful mountains. I always considered life just like an open road and our life is just like ONE BIG RIDE. During this big ride, sometimes you gonna get good patches just like happiness and sometimes you gonna get bad patches just like unhappiness or our bad moments. But the best thing about this BIG RIDE is all about enjoying the ride; enjoying this beautiful life. There is no doubt that we could learn so much out of those bad patches. It’s not that our good patches that make us good or great riders but it’s those bad patches who will improve you as a rider, as a human being and whenever we fall, we just say one thing to ourself:

“I Have Miles to Go, Before I Sleep”

To Be Continued…

NOTE: This article continues the journey of Captain Suraj Singh Thakur of Indian Army. To read all the articles of K2K, click HERE.